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Darkness
The Darkness, and its host the Dark One, is a magical entity featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. It débuts in the first episode of the first season. Description The Darkness is, as the name implies, a dark magical entity resided in all the Dark Ones. It was first created when Nimue corrupted her Holy Grail magic by using her powers for evil, which is killing someone. The more Dark Ones are killed and other hosts take its place, the more powerful the Darkness becomes. Nimue|Swan Song}} The Goal of the Darkness *The Darkness can appear in a Dark One's mind as in the appearance of the previous hosts' dark sprits to corrupt the host even more, just like it did with Emma Swan and Hook. It's unknown if this situation also happened with Rumplestiltskin, Zoso or Gorgon the Invincible, since Emma and Hook did not become Dark One in a traditional way, by killing the previous host, therefore, were not corrupted in the beginning, unlike other hosts. **When appearing in a Dark One's mind, the Darkness can manifest itself into whichever Dark One it wishes, including the current one, or all of them at once. *After many years of dark deeds, the heart of the Dark One finally fills with the Darkness, and in a manner of speaking, the host "dies" after a strong "heart attack", which means that the host loses any ability to love, and only the Dark One remains. Should this happen, the Darkness would gain full control of its host. **The Elixir of the Wounded Heart can slow down this process. However, after its effects are gone, they'll still meet their ultimate demise. **The Apprentice casts a powerful summoning spell to get the Darkness out of Mr. Gold and tries to contain it in the Sorcerer's Hat to save him. *The secret, but also the hardest and most important goal of all Dark Ones, is to open a portal from the Overworld to the Underworld in order for all the previous Dark Ones to return to life after they find suitable victims to take their place. Once this is done, they plan to erase Light Magic. Powers and Abilities *The host uses Witchcraft by the knowledge of the Holy Grail and the Darkness, so they don't need to learn the magical arts as other practitioners of magic do. *The Darkness is immortal. This is a result of Nimue drinking the waters of the Holy Grail. **Because of that, Dark Ones don't get affected by temperatures, so they don't get cold or hot. **They also don't need sleep, as the power of the Darkness keeps them energized. Dark Ones such as Rumplestiltskin and Emma develop hobbies to pass the time instead; Rumplestiltskin spins straw into gold and Emma makes dreamcatchers. ***Even though they don't need it, they can and do sleep. ***They can also be put into sleep by using sleeping spells. *Dark Ones are immune to the Spell of Shattered Sight, Singing Spells and Voodoo Magic; the former is due to Dark Ones already having a heart full of Darkness, while the latter two spells are relatively weak magic for a Dark One. *A Dark One can escape from the Dark Curse's effects before the curse is broken, if they find a way to restore their memories before the casting of the curse. **Rumplestiltskin writes down Emma's name on a paper with the squid ink constantly. So that after the casting of the first curse, when someone says the Savior, Emma's name for the first time, his memories shall be returned. Queen of Hearts|Awake}} **Mr. Gold is affected by the fourth curse since he has his memories about his new, altered life. However, he still remembers his past, real life due to him being not a victim of the curse. It is unknown if he made any preparation before the casting of the curse. **Right before the casting of the fifth curse in the New Enchanted Forest, Mr. Gold puts his "Mr. Gold" persona in a room in his mind, and instruct Alice to bring the chipped cup to him and say his original name, Rumplestiltskin, so that his memories shall be returned. Disadvantages *The squid ink is said to be the only weapon that can stop the Dark One. *Rumplestiltskin's Cell is enchanted to hold specifically Rumplestiltskin. Inside the cell, he can no longer use his magic. *Dark Ones cannot use Foresight, even though Merlin, who also got his magic from the Holy Grail, can. However, they can acquire it from another source, such as another practitioner of foresight. *For unknown reasons, fire seems to hurt the Darkness. *All Dark Ones seem to find it irresistible to make deals. Appearance of the Dark One *When the Dark One corrupts themselves, the Darkness inside them can react differently. **When Rumplestiltskin changes, his skin suddenly turns gray-green and scaly with his nails turning black and longer. His eyes become amber colored. **When Nimue changes, the same thing also happens to her, except her skin color becomes bluish. **When Emma changes, her hair color becomes bleached blonde, with her lips being a deathly red and her outfit being a leathery garb. **When Hook kills Merlin, however, nothing is seen to be changed for his physical body. The Link Between the Darkness and the Dagger *Due to being tethered to the Dark One Dagger, the Darkness and the dagger are connected. As a result, the dagger sometimes calls its "other half" by whispering. **It can also call the previous host if they are alive at that point. However, the situation is extremely rare, as the only previous hosts that are alive are Emma Swan and Killian Jones. *The user of the dagger can control the Dark One in any way. If they command them to do something, the Dark One has no option but to obey the user. However, the thing that the user controls is the Darkness itself, not the host's emotions. So, it's different than controlling someone with their enchanted heart, which can not just control their emotions, but even make them forget certain memories after their heart is ripped. **However, in some cases, the Dark One can escape from the dagger's commands, though it hurts them physically and emotionally. **A Dark One cannot be controlled in the Land Without Magic, since the dagger cannot harness any magic there. *A Dark One can use the dagger itself to do stronger and more powerful magic. *A Dark One can cleave themselves from the dagger's control with a powerful spell whose ingridients include a person who knew the host before they became the Dark One and an enhanced Sorcerer's hat filled with strong magic, such as the fairies. Interestingly, Mr. Gold is also in the impression of using his magic even beyond the town line after the spell has been enacted. Erasing and Passing of the Darkness Killing the Dark One *The traditional and most-known way to kill the Dark One is to stab them with the Dark One Dagger, and the power of the Darkness passes to the one who kills them. **When a person becomes the Dark One via other way than killing previous host, they are automatically transported to the Vault of the Dark One and emerged from it, even if they are in another world. *According to Cora and Mr. Gold, when the Dark One is killed without the dagger, such as by being poisoned with the dreamshade in the Land Without Magic, she/he will expel the power of the darkness, with no new Dark One, and the curse will "pass from this world". *It's possible for a Dark One to kill another immortal person (either Merlin or another Dark One) who is gifted with the Holy Grail. *It is also possible for a Dark One to kill themselves with the dagger. However, the Darkness automatically sends itself to the Vault of the Dark One, ready to be spread out to the world with its previous host after someone sacrifices themselves. Getting Rid of the Dark One Curse *True love's kiss will not break a Dark One's curse if the Dark One likes the power and does not want to give it up. When the afflicted wants it, it is no longer a curse. **Nor will true love's kiss work if both people involved are Dark Ones. *To destroy the Darkness once and for all, Emma planned to turn Zelena into a vessel, and use the Excalibur to kill her, whilst also erasing the Darkness. However, she never had the chance to do it. **Instead, she turned Hook into a vessel. And with all the Dark Ones' Darkness inside the Excalibur, she cut away his immortality, therefore turning him into his old state before he became the Dark One and killing him, whilst also "destroying" the Darkness. *It is possible for a Dark One to give their powers and immortality to the Guardian, who is someone incorruptible by evil, willing to sacrifice. Therefore, it won't corrupt them, and the Darkness will be safe. *A Dark One somehow losing his magic and immortality may not mean that the Dark One loses his Dark One-ness, as Wish Henry removed all of Weaver's powers of the Dark One with the Author's pen, but he still remained as the Dark One. **After Wish Henry removes Weaver's immortality, it becomes possible for him to die again, whilst also erasing of the Darkness. Aftermath of a Dark One *According to Mr. Gold, a person who dies as a Dark One must have an unfinished business, therefore this person is automatically sent to the Underworld. However, this is proven false, as Weaver died as a Dark One and went to Mount Olympus to be with Belle instead of the Underworld. It should be noted, though, that his heart had been purged of the Darkness during his sacrifice. Multiplying the Darkness *There can be more than one Dark One at once, as demonstrated by Emma Swan and Killian Jones, by removing Merlin's Holy Grail magic with the Promethean Flame, corrupting it (just like Nimue did to her Holy Grail magic), and tethering it to the new host. However, it will only multiply the Darkness, and it will be even more difficult to destroy it. "Wish" Darkness *After the creation of the Wish Realm, a part of the Darkness became the Wish version of the Dark One, likely multiplying the overall power of the Darkness in the process. The Wish version was linked to its main reality version: if the main reality one loses his position of the Dark One (or is destroyed), it will be the same for his Wish Realm version. History Nimue later created a vault for her own usage, and emerged as the Dark One to the public from this vault. She has turned her dark soul into a curse that allows her to live on beyond the death of her physical body, inhabiting the soul of whoever kills the current Dark One with the dagger, gifting that person with the Dark One's power. While the Darkness originated as Nimue's soul, it grows more powerful by assimilating the darkness of each soul that it passes on to as part of the Dark One curse. Because of this, the Darkness can manifest itself as every Dark One there ever was, even to the point of manifesting as all of them at the same time. Merlin takes the other half of Excalibur and binds Nimue to it - thus creating the Dark One's Dagger. Eventually, Nimue and Merlin meet again, but Merlin, in a moment of utter grief, becomes overpowered by Nimue, who transforms him into a tree. At some point, Merlin had created a special hat, capable of absorbing and accumulating magic. The hat is protected by the Apprentice from each person that takes on the Dark One's powers. Every Dark One tries to steal the hat, but none of them succeed. One day, the latest Dark One, Zoso, arrives in an attempt to open the guarded relic, only to be blasted away by the artifact's magic. Once the Apprentice informs the Dark One why his mission will never succeed, a beaten Zoso teleports away. Decades later, while Zoso is still the Dark One, the kingdom resorts to using children as soldiers in another Ogre Wars. Rumplestiltskin fears for the possibility of losing his child and flees away with him. But they are approached by a mysterious old man, who steers him towards stealing a magical dagger which can control the Dark One. Rumplestiltskin decides to steal the dagger from the Duke of the Frontlands, with the hopes of protecting Baelfire and turning the Dark One into a force for good. Once alone, Rumplestiltskin summons the Dark One and he stabs the entity with the dagger in a fit of blind rage. But he discovers the Dark One is the old man who told him about the dagger. Then Rumplestiltskin's own name replaces Zoso's on the dagger, and he gains the powers of the Dark One. }} }} }} After absorbing the Darkness, Emma disappears from Storybrooke, with her body reforming out of the Vault of the Dark One in the Enchanted Forest. Finding herself garbed in a cloak, she soon discovers that the Darkness, under a manifestation of Rumplestiltskin - one voice out of the many Dark Ones - is now her guide, and he intends to stay until she fully accepts her powers. Throughout the Camelot quest, the main goal of the heroes is to destroy the Darkness by finding Merlin. Once they succeed in doing so, Merlin reveals that he will be able to rid Emma of the Darkness once they reforge Excalibur using the Promethean Flame. While Emma and Merlin search for the Flame, Merlin reveals the truth behind the Darkness's origins, and Emma ends up in a battle against herself when the Darkness creates a mental image of Nimue in her mind. In order to get the dagger and reforge Excalibur, Arthur teams up with Zelena and gets her to use the tether spell Merlin used on the dagger to attach Merlin himself to the other half of Excalibur. Merlin is able to overcome Arthur's commands, and Emma and Hook get Excalibur back. Following this encounter, Hook's neck gets a minor cut from Excalibur, which Emma easily heals. However, a cut from Excalibur can never be fully healed, and the cut reopens just before Emma can reforge the sword, causing Hook to begin to die. Unwilling to let him die, Emma takes both halves of Excalibur and uses her magic to tether Hook to the sword instead of Merlin. The corrupted Darkness inside Merlin mysteriously flies out of Merlin as he says that it is too late, and after Emma is done with the transfer, her outfit magically changes and Hook is teleported away, emerging from the Vault as the second Dark One. }} After Hook opens a portal to the Underworld, all the souls of the deceased Dark Ones claim a living soul to replace their souls in the Underworld. When the heroes confront Hook and all the former dead Dark Ones, the spirit of Nimue magically chokes Emma. Hook realizes what kind of man he wants to be, using Excalibur, which he obtained by tricking Emma into giving it to him after she got it from Mr. Gold, to absorb the spirits of the Dark Ones. Hook begs his true love to kill him, destroying the Darkness and letting him die a hero. Emma reluctantly does this, destroying the sword, along with the Darkness's hold on her. Unbeknownst to Emma, Mr. Gold poured a potion to make the sword a magic "conduit", which transferred all the Dark Ones' magic to him. The next day, a grieving Emma hears whispering, following it to Mr. Gold Pawnbroker & Antiquities Dealer. Mr. Gold reveals his actions to Emma, showing her the Dark One Dagger, the source of the whispering. Emma then threatens to tell Belle unless Mr. Gold helps her travel to the Underworld to rescue Hook. The new Dark One, reluctantly, opens a portal to the Underworld, leading Emma and company to the boat of Charon. }} As peace resumes in Storybrooke, Mr. Gold takes Belle to see the world as she has always wished to do. When the couple goes to an ancient bridge where people come to make wishes in exchange for sacrifice, he tells her of his intentions to give up his Dark One powers in order to become mortal and grow old with her. Mr. Gold throws the dagger into the river but it magically returns to him, to which he and Belle attempt to find another method of freeing him from the Darkness. In time, Belle discovers a fairy prophecy which states that after the Dark One finds eternal love, his dark powers can be removed only when the sun is at its brightest and that it sets in the Edge of Realms where time is frozen. Belle agrees to build a life with him at the Edge of Realms as they both wait for the day the sun will set, however, months turn into years, as she ages into an elderly woman while Mr. Gold remains the same because of the Darkness keeping him immortal and youthful. On one such day, Belle collapses, and as her life comes to its natural end, she reveals to him that the sun in the prophecy was not the one in the sky but her life, and she didn't want to tell him as she knew he would try to find a way around it. She assures him that they will be reunited again and he must continue the journey to be rid of the Darkness without her. After Belle's passing, Mr. Gold learns about a being called the Guardian, who can take on the Darkness from the Dark One and be strong enough to not be corrupted by it. Traveling to the New Enchanted Forest, Mr. Gold comes to suspect a girl named Alice is the Guardian. He also finds out from Dr. Facilier, who can communicate with the dead, that Belle fears Mr. Gold is running out of time as the Darkness will overtake him again. After Alice is proven to be the Guardian, she absorbs all the Darkness from Mr. Gold's body into the dagger, but before she can completely assume her role, which requires her to become immortal, Mr. Gold stops her, not wanting to sacrifice her life for his own happiness. This causes Mr. Gold to succumb to the Darkness by regaining the scaly skin and impish manner he once had as Rumplestiltskin. }} }} Trivia |-|On-Screen Notes= On-Screen Notes *Zoso, as a Dark One, appears in the title card for "Desperate Souls";File:108Title.png Rumplestiltskin, as another Dark One, appears in the title card for "In the Name of the Brother".File:212Title.png The Darkness itself appears in the title card for "Birth".File:508Title.png The hooded figures of all Dark Ones prior to Rumplestiltskin appear in the title card for "Swan Song".File:511Title.png *The waterfall in the pocket dimension inside the Vault of the Dark One is liquid darkness.File:504IWasWondering.png *There is information about the Dark Ones written in the Dark One Chronicles. *The fact that Emma could still hear the whispers from the dagger was due to her being a former Dark One who was still alive while the Darkness still existed. |-|Cultural References= Disney *When Emma emerges from vault, the Darkness (in the form of Rumplestiltskin) can be heard whistling "Whistle While You Work" from Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Appearances *Dark One Rumplestiltskin appears in Henry's storybook in "Dreamcatcher".File:505RumplestiltskinStorybook.png File:505BelleRumpleStorybook.png *Dark One Mr. Gold is mentioned on the pawnshop sign in "Lady of the Lake"File:203RunningGrace.png and "Heart of the Matter".File:W111WelcomeToStorybrooke.png}} Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage. See also *''Dark One Chronicles'' *Dark One Deals *Dark One Dagger *Fairy Prophecy Scroll *Idyllic Garden *Key to the Vault of the Dark One *Vault of the Dark One References }}ru:Тьма pl:Mroczny fr:Ténébreux de:Dunkler Category:Season One Characters Category:Season Two Characters Category:Season Three Characters Category:Season Four Characters Category:Season Five Characters Category:Season Six Characters Category:Season Seven Characters Category:Once Upon a Time Characters Category:Deceased Characters Category:Enchanted Forest Characters Category:Storybrooke Characters Category:Elements with Wish Realm Versions